Lancaris, new genus, is established for two freshwater shrimp species, thus far known, endemic to the highlands of central Sri Lanka. It is characterized by the absence of arthrobranch on the first pereiopod, the presence of a short appendix interna on the endopod of male first pleopod, a small lateral angle and a large number of spinules on the uropodal diaersis, and the long setae on the distal end of the telson. The new genus is compared to related genera Parisia Holthuis, 1956, Pycneus Holthuis, 1986, Pycnisia Bruce, 1992, and Paracaridina Liang & Guo, 1999, in Liang, Guo & Tang, 1999. Species assigned to the new genus, Lancaris singhalensis (Ortmann, 1894), and L. kumariae (De Silva, 1990), previously placed in Caridina IT Milne-Edwards, 1837, are redescribed and illustrated.